Have Tesco Broken The 'exclusivity Agreementí?

Today it was reported in the Liverpool Daily Post that Tesco approached Development Securities (DevSecs). They held a meeting on Thursday night. Whilst Everton and Tesco have refused to pass comment, DevSecs confirmed nothing has changed. A DevSecs spokesman said "At Tesco’s request, we met with them at our offices. Both parties explained their positions and are now considering what was discussed. We are happy to confirm that our position has not changed in respect of this project.”

This has led me to believe that Tesco can meet potential new business partners who offer an alternative scheme to the one that is proposed. My question is simple ‘Why can't Everton?’ Personally I believe the agreement nothing more than a smokescreen, a charade, a scheme to pull the wool over the eyes of the supporters who abide by the club’s Latin motto Nil Satis Nisi Optimum. As business partners Everton surely gave permission for Tesco to approach DevSecs, if they did not and Tesco approached DevSecs then that should have rendered the 'exclusivity agreement' null and void as the agreement would have been broken.

Whenever a question is asked relating to the stadium, whether it is a simple question such as “Who will own the stadium?” we receive the same the response. The response is fast becoming the club’s mantra. The response is ‘we can’t discuss that due to the exclusivity agreement in place’. We hear time and time again that Everton are locked in talks by the infamous exclusivity agreement, an agreement that nobody knows when it began nor when it will end, that's if it even exists. If Everton did indeed grant Tesco permission to discuss the project with another company then it proves that the exclusivity agreement is nothing more than a smokescreen. This would essentially mean that Everton are not interested in looking at alternatives at all and keeping all their eggs in the one basket. This would have been the ideal time to break the silence and state their intention to look at more favourable alternatives. Many fans know that there are better options available to the club, Tesco certainly know as their CEO mentioned one of them in his open letter to the club.

Our very own CEO Keith Wyness knows there are better options available to Everton than the "deal of the century". In fact it was such a good deal that he e-mailed all the people who are registered on the official site with a Knowsley address pleading that they write to the Knowsley council supporting the scheme.

If they didn't grant permission what is stopping Everton from looking into alternative stadium sites put forward to them, predominantly the redevelopment of Goodison Park and Scotland Road?